Book Review – Christmas Wishes by Sue Moorcroft

One of the reasons I love Netgalley is the opportunity to read books that I may not be able to access in Canada. Sue Moorcraft is an author I see coming up on my instagram feed quite frequently and I’ve been wanting to read one of her books. Therefore, when the opportunity came up to listen to Christmas Wishes, I jumped at the chance.

Hannah is a shopkeeper in Stockholm and lives with her boyfriend. She takes pride in the shop although it hasn’t been doing as well as she has hoped. When her brother Rob’s friend Nico stops by her shop, the two become reacquainted quickly. Nico is now a single father of eight year old Josie from his former marriage. Hannah enjoys Nico’s company and looks forward to seeing him again at Rob’s upcoming wedding in her hometown of Middledip.

Nico thoroughly enjoys his life as a single father, but between work and Josie he hasn’t much time for anything else. When he brings Josie to see her mother for an overnight stay, it’s very evident that he cannot leave her here. In fact, he cannot leave Josie’s two year old half-sister Maria there either. Suddenly his life has become much more complicated.

At the wedding, Hannah and Nico spend some time together dancing and talking and Hannah realizes that the relationship with her boyfriend has lost its magic. When Hannah returns from the wedding, she is surprised to learn that she has lost her shop, her home and her boyfriend. She returns to Middledip to care for her Nana and to start repairing her life. Hannah and Nico develop a strong friendship and romance, but will it be strong enough to overcome so many obstacles?

This is a beautiful story perfect for the Christmas season. I really appreciated how this book felt as though I was observing a real story. I loved these children and the sweet element they bring to the story. I appreciated the therapeutic relationship between Hannah and Nico and the spirit of giving and helping others. There was a key message in this enchanting story – one that speaks of keeping yourself healthy first and understanding the limitations when helping others. The author provides great character development of the protagonists and I felt I really knew and liked the characters. The story is engaging, and a joy to read.

I listened to the audiobook version of Christmas Wishes which was narrated by Julia Woodwind. I really enjoyed her performance and found her voice to be crisp and articulate. I particularly enjoyed her portrayal of Maria and her charming “My Dad”! I listened to this book at 1.5x speed which is slightly faster than my normal speed of 1.25x. I would definitely recommend the audiobook version of the book to those that enjoy this format.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Audio for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for the honest review provided here.

My rating: ? ? ? ?/5.